Visitors to Grand Canyon National Park over Memorial Day weekend can expect long lines, crowds, and full parking lots. Last year, Grand Canyon's visitation hit an all-time high and the park is already seeing an increase over last year's numbers. The park anticipates a busier-than-normal holiday weekend.

The twenty-sixth annual Grand Canyon Star Party will be held from Saturday, June 4 through Saturday, June 11, 2016 on the South and North rims of Grand Canyon National Park. National parks such as Grand Canyon are protective harbors for some of the last remaining dark skies in this country. This year's Grand Canyon Star Party honors Joe Orr, a Star Party enthusiast and protector of Grand Canyon's skies, who died in 2013. This is one of many special events going on in national parks across the country in this centennial year of the National Park Service.

The National Park Service (NPS) will again offer shuttle bus service between Grand Canyon National Park and the neighboring town of Tusayan, Arizona in 2016. The shuttle bus service will run an additional five weeks this year. The Tusayan Route will be available from Saturday, May 7, 2016 through Sunday, October 9, 2016 and will run at 20-minute intervals between 8 am and 9:30 pm daily.

Grand Canyon National Park invites the public to celebrate the 46th anniversary of Earth Day during National Park Week on Friday, April 22, 2016.

Grand Canyon's Earth Day celebration will feature games, information about local and national environmental initiatives, a recycled art sculpture, and exotic plant removal. All Earth Day activities are open and free of charge to the public and will take place at Grand Canyon Visitor Center plaza near Mather Point between 10 am and 2 pm.

The gate at the entrance to North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park will open on Sunday, May 15 at 7:30 am;and Grand Canyon Lodge North Rim, a Forever Resorts property, and Grand Canyon Trail Rides will commence their 2016 seasonal operations. Although the gate to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park will not open until May 15, Arizona Department of Transportation will open Highway 67 at Jacob Lake at 1 pm on Friday, May 13.

Three original films that capture the diverse personal, cultural, recreational and biological values of the greater Grand Canyon region will be shown at FilmBar in Phoenix on Thursday. Carletta Tilousi, councilwoman with the Havasupai Tribe, will discuss the long-term efforts to protect the region from uranium mining and her support of the proposal.

Like nearly all American national parks, Grand Canyon National Park has a huge maintenance backlog due to years of underfunding by Congress. Yet the park smashed it's visitation record in 2015 with 5.5 million visitors, and is expected to break that record again this year. Between lower gas prices and celebrations around the National Park Service's 100th birthday this year, the number of visits continues on the upward trend:

August 25, 2016, is the 100th birthday of the National Park Service, which manages Grand Canyon National Park and the other American National Parks, most National Monuments and National Memorials, and as well as many National Historic Sites. Click here for more information.

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Whether your interest in the Grand Canyon lies in a quick look from a few of the rim viewpoints, a week-long whitewater trip on the Colorado River, a stay in a lodge on the very edge of the canyon, a leisurely walk along a rim trail, camping in the tall pines of the rim forest, or a multi-day trek into the canyon, this website is for you.

Exploring Grand Canyon is a non-commercial website whose only financial support comes from sales of books, maps, and videos from the Resources page. It is dedicated to providing useful information for all visitors to the Grand Canyon and is based on my more than forty years experience exploring the Canyon and sharing that knowledge through writing and photography.

Special thanks to my friends and fellow Grand Canyon explorers who have provided invaluable help and whose work has made this website a true team effort.

Although every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of the information on this site, by using this website you take full responsibility for your own safety and recognize that outdoor activities may be hazardous. Exploring Grand Canyon is not affiliated with any government agency, business, or Indian tribe.